Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team

The veterinary marketplace has changed dramatically from only a few decades ago. Pets are considered as family members, more so than at any time in the past, and it is imperative to recognize the human–animal bond in all of our efforts. Specialization within the profession has become more commonplace and the creation of specialty and referral hospitals has been robust on a global basis. Partially as a result of this, we also have more published guidelines for veterinary care than were available previously and many are referenced within the pages of this book. Corporate practices are also coming into their own, as are retail‐anchored practices, and we are also witnessing the role this plays in delivering a more market‐driven approach to healthcare. It is also important to recognize the evolution of the veterinary healthcare team and the critical role each healthcare team member provides in the delivery of excellent healthcare, and consistent healthcare.

Yes, things are changing, and change is often difficult to assimilate, especially within the veterinary profession. Veterinary practice often stood as an anachronism, an attempt to hold back the escalation in healthcare costs as pertains to animals. There was a belief that these costs needed to be kept artificially low, because pet owners would be unwilling to pay those costs for the sake of an animal. Yet, study after study has shown that this is not the case and owners do understand the high cost of healthcare and are often receptive to such realistic costs … as long as they see the “value” in those expenditures and reasonable expectations have been established for them by veterinary teams. That being said, it is also important to realize that not all clients can necessarily afford the care they would otherwise wish to select, and there are still ways to deliver reasonable and acceptable care without sacrificing quality. Thus, in this book there are also several topics that deal with this challenging subject.

The profession is indeed changing, and clients have changed, and the services available for pets have changed, but primary care veterinary practices are still very much as they have been in the past, and face many challenges ahead. It is the goal of this book to provide veterinary practices and teams with the information necessary to compete effectively in the marketplace and to deliver exceptional pet‐specific healthcare in a truly team‐based fashion.

Compiling all this information in one volume was an immense task, and I am eternally grateful to my gifted colleagues who contributed to this incredible resource. It wasn't that long ago that the delivery of healthcare was entirely veterinarian focused, and pet‐specific care was a self‐taught discipline based on personal experience, and often by trial and error. That has changed, and I am very proud to be involved in a project, along with the many authors of this book, that helps deliver this much‐needed resource for veterinary healthcare teams.

Lowell Ackerman, DVM, DACVD, MBA, MPA, CVA, MRCVS

Lowell Ackerman, DVM, DACVD, MBA, MPA, CVA, MRCVS

Dr Lowell Ackerman is a board‐certified veterinary specialist, an award‐winning author, an international lecturer, and a renowned expert in veterinary practice management. He is a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology. In addition to his veterinary credentials, he also has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Certificate in Veterinary Practice Administration from Purdue University/American Animal Hospital Association. Dr Ackerman is a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) through the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts and is a Fear Free Certified Professional. Throughout his career, Dr Ackerman has been engaged in specialty practice, primary care practice, academia, consulting, industry, and teaching. Dr Ackerman is the author or co‐author of several books, and he lectures extensively on a global basis on topics relative to both medicine and management.

Lowell Ackerman, DVM, DACVD, MBA, MPA, CVA, MRCVS

Global Consultant, Author, and Lecturer, MA, USA

Pet‐specific care is a practice philosophy in which veterinary care is transformed from a reactive model to a more proactive version in which veterinary teams provide solutions rather than just services, and pet owners become more engaged with the veterinary team in the pet care process. Pet‐specific care encourages active, ongoing veterinary care throughout a pet's life as a continuum of care, rather than just a passive transaction‐based process. The approach can result not only in happier, healthier pets, but also healthier families, practices, and communities.

For veterinary medicine to provide real value to pet owners and derive real success for veterinary practices, there is a need to focus on being proactive, appreciating risk factors, detecting problems early, closing compliance gaps, and managing through evidence‐based guidelines.

Care Pathway:A step‐by‐step approach to the management of specific conditions in specific patient populations.

Companion Diagnostics:A method to test safety and efficacy of a drug specific to a target patient group, breed, or otherwise identified individual (biomarkers, genetic markers, etc.).

Continuum of Care:The delivery of healthcare over a period of time, such that intervention at any point on the timeline affects quality of life in the period afterwards.

Healthspan:The portion of a pet's life in which it is considered generally healthy, in contradistinction to lifespan which is the quantity of time a pet is alive.

Level of Care:The intensity, appropriateness or competence of care provided.

P4 Medicine:The clinical face of systems medicine, P4 medicine is Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, and Participatory. Its two major objectives are to quantify wellness and demystify disease.

Pet Parent:A term used to designate that the relationship between individuals and their pets is more than just ownership. Such individuals endeavor to do what is best for their pets and seek to maximize the benefits of the human–animal bond for both parties.

Spectrum of Care:The availability and accessibility of veterinary medical care regardless of the socioeconomic status of the pet owner.

Stratified Medicine:An approach to medical care designed to segment or stratify patients into groupings with similar disease profiles, attributes, or presumed response to specific therapies.

Theranostics:A combination of diagnostics and therapy in which specific targeted therapy is based on specific targeted diagnostic tests.

Toxgnostics:The identification of genetic variants that predict adverse reactions to specific drugs.

Pet‐specific care is about providing customized care for pets (based on breed, lifestyle, medical history, other risk factors, etc.), and constitutes an important and value‐added healthcare experience for pet owners. It could be considered as “the right care, for the right pet, at the right time.”